SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) does not have a reporting module yet. However, if you plan to create your Reports using Story in SAC, the one roadblock you might end up with is exporting the Story as a paginated report. Even though paginated reports are not possible in SAC currently, the feature batch exporting will allow you to run the report automatically for each member of a dimension and export every instance of the Story Page in a single PDF. Batch exporting is available in SAC from version 2019.07. 

Assume you want a Sales Order Report with different market information on different pages. SAC allows you to generate such a report which is shown below.

In this blog, let us see how to create this Story and export it as a paginated report.

Creating the Story

The Story consists of simple widgets like Shape, Text and Table. Shape widget is used to show the logo in SVG format. Table widget is configured to show a simple report with order details. The top right text showing ‘Printed On’ is just a dynamic text that shows the current date.

Adding Story Filter

When you want to export a paginated report, one pre-requisite is you need to have the dimension, for which the pages have to be split, as a Story filter. In our case, the dimension Market is added as a Story Filter since we need the order details of different markets in different pages.

The market is added as a single selection Story Filter where the Select All Option is unchecked. If you plan to create a paginated report for all members, then select all members while choosing LOVs for the Story Filter.

Please note that Story Filters based on Time dimensions are not supported for batch export.

Adding Dynamic Text Selection

One important aspect in paginated reports, in general, is the text of the dimension member that differentiates the pages. Here the current market information of the page should be added as a dynamic text to avoid confusion when the end-user is viewing the exported PDF.

Batch Exporting

Now you are ready to create a batch export. From either edit or view mode, select the export option under the save menu. There you need to enable Batch Export. Under Batch Exporting, you will be able to select any Story Filter from all the existing Story Filters within the dropdown. Once selected, you can also limit the members of that particular dimension by selecting the hyperlink below the dropdown. It opens a popup where you will be able to limit the List of Values (LOVs).

If needed, you can also adjust other PDF settings like enabling Appendix, limiting page range, etc. Background Export will be useful if you need to return to the Story immediately, in which case the export operation will happen in the background and the file will be downloaded automatically.

Thus, you can utilize the batch export option and create a simple paginated report within SAC. Please note that you have to ensure that the number of rows shown in the table is limited so that all the information is exported properly.

If you are interested in learning more about SAP Analytics Cloud, check out our series of blogs here.